Custom Corner Gauge Pod Project

[MearCat]

These pods are now for sale - see HERE for anyone interested in purchasing them. I have many other gauge pods available now too - 180SX, S14, S15, Stagea, Forester, WRX...

I thought I'd post a few pics of of my latest project for my R33 for those who are interested.

My mate who has a WRX showed me a few pics of a gauge pod (made by AVO) that you can get for WRX/Liberty/Forester and sits at the bottom of the A Pillar. It's a nice alternative using a Greddy/Autometer style pod and drilling holes into you pillar and certainly more subtle that the A-Pillar pods. I looked around and sure enough, I couldnt find anyone who sells them for Skylines. The WRX ones are like $90 anyway.

So I thought i'd make my own, using Plaster of Paris as a template, make a reverse mould also out of Plaster of Paris and then fibreglass into that mould. For those who are interested, here area couple of pics so far.

All I did was mixed up a batch of approx 2L of Plaster of Paris, waited until it started to set (into a pretty gluggy consistency), poured it into a plastic bag and shoved it into the corner of the dash/windscreen/A-Pillar (see first pic). Once set, I pulled the plastic off and started shaping to roughly what I wanted with a file and rasp (see 2nd pic). There were a few holes and bits I had to mix more plaster to patch up, but it took about 3-4 hours to shape and sand it, minus the time it took for the patches to dry.

The last couple of pics are progress so far. What do you guys think? Total finished cost of Plaster of Paris and fibreglass should be about $40

Edited December 28, 2007 by MearCat

[QRI05E]

Mate that’s what I like to see, some creativity!!! I have been searching for a similar pod to fit a boost gauge in my S2 R33 but cant find one... those pillar pods arn't too bad but are a definite defect in NSW... please keep me posted with pics on how it turns out! Maybe you could be a buddy by making 2 of your prototype pod and seeing how it looks in my car hehehe... looking good so far! keep up the great work...

Regards,

Sarkis

[MearCat]

I got the two halfs of the mould done last night. I should get to do some fibreglassing into these moulds in the next few days. Once set, the 2 halfs will then be glassed together and then automotive bog used to patch up any small inconsistencies.

The 2nd pic shows a pencil marking where the outer rim of the gauge (it's a 60mm Apexi EL2 boost gauge btw) will be situated.

[05YKO_r33]

good work. i am about to make a pod for my Apexi SAF-C to mount in the middle of the dash in my R33 and might employ the plaster method to get the shape i want. cheers.

[MearCat]

When working with plaster of paris, white dust and marks get EVERYWHERE in your car. Once dry, the plaster wipes off easily with a a damp rag, but I highly recommend covering what you can with sandwich/Glad wrap to stop 1) the wet plaster sticking to anything when you first mix it up and it's setting and 2) the dry plaster marking everything it touches which white marks when you're fitting up any template to parts of the interior.

[Craved]

very cool idea.. definately going to be using this idea.

Thumbsup

[FATGTS-R]

Great idea, looks good.

I dont have a creative bone in my body so could you please explain how you did the reverse moulds?

[MearCat]

Great idea, looks good.

I dont have a creative bone in my body so could you please explain how you did the reverse moulds?

If you look at the pic on this post you'll hopefully see that the template is half blue, half white. What I did was mix some blue food colouring with water and dipped half of the plaster template into the water. Just like the old Colgate toothpaste ads on TV This line that runs down the length of the template and over the face separates it into about halves. So I mixed up another batch of plaster of paris, poured it into plastic container, waited for it to set a bit and then pushed the blue/white template (blue side down) into this plaster up to the line so that no more blue was showing. Waited for it to 95% set and pulled out the template. Then I mixed up another batch of plaster and pushed in the template (white side down this time) so that no more white was showing. What you should end up with two reverse (negative moulds) of the 2 halves of the gauge pod - which you can seal with wax, coat in a release agent (or oil) and fibreglass in them. Then pull the two pieces of fibreglass out, clean off the release agent and fibreglass the two seperate halves together.

I hope that makes sense.

NOTE : Make sure you cover the template in Vaseline before you push it into the plaster, otherwise you'll never get it out!

[MearCat]

Fibreglass halves have now been moulded/set, cut and sanded to form a single pod. Next step. Glass the 2 halves together...

[MearCat]

Fibreglass halves have now been moulded/set, cut and sanded to form a single pod. Next step. Glass the 2 halves together...

[MearCat]

Pics of the nearly finished product. All that needs to be done is cut a small hole in the bottom/side to feed to tube and wiring through, and painting it.

[Ronin 09]

I love a bit of creative thinking

nice work.

should get the mods to move this to the DIY section

[MearCat]

The final product, painted matt black (which matches the dash very well and doesn't reflect any sunlight).

For those of you who are curious, the 3 orange and 1 red LEDs under the boost gauge are for my Axis/Hyperform shift light.

Total Cost was ~$50

[Let Me Drive]

that looks cool man how much are you going to charge to seel them and how are you keeping it from moving

[7yphon]

With something as light as that double sided sticky tape would be ok, Also wouldnt leave marks on the dash if you wanted to sell the car.

BTW great work im now thinking about doing that for my 32

[CATKICKER]

very impressive!

[MearCat]

that looks cool man how much are you going to charge to seel them and how are you keeping it from moving

I wasn't thinking of selling any in the immediate future but in the long term I may look into how much it would be to get them manufactured in a ABS plastic or something similar, but don't hold your breath. Hence this thread to show people how to make them. Although, depending on feedback/demand ....

As for holding it down, it doesn't actually need anything at all. There is a lip at the back of the dash which the back part of the pod stops it from moving back/front and at the front of the pod where it's contoured to the dash stops it from moving left/right. I was running 12psi tonight (on a cool 12degC evening) and at WOT & fast cornering and it didn't move at all. But the bottom of the pod is slightly raised from the dash level to allow to double sided tape/velcro just in case.

[MearCat]

I've now organised someone to make these pods in fibreglass and have posted a Expression Of Interest thread HERE for anyone interested in purchasing them.

[AzzurrA]

wow, that looks really good!

might have to make something like that for my '32

[MearCat]

If you're not too keen on making one yourself though, I'll probably end up making a batch of them for R32s as well pretty soon. At the moment I've only made them for R33